Finished project, turning, and (gearheads beware...) a new "tool"

[Bill in Buena Park]

Where to post?

A couple months back, over on the IAP (International Association of Penturners) website (penturners.org), there was a spate of excitement over these little (<=1W) Laser Engravers, NEJE DK-8-KZ, from GearBest.com: http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-...pp_343187.html

I admit to instant interest and jumping on the bandwagon to buy one, with the intent of using these to engrave pens, and see what other applications I could devise. The small configuration of the unit will create restrictions on the size of the workpiece you engrave, but one could accommodate something up to a couple inches wide that extends outside the sides or front/back of the unit. The engraving size is only 500x500 pixels, so some creativity for multi-burn pieces would be required. It also has its own proprietary driver/engraving software that is fairly easy to use, since it allows you to drag and drop in bmp, gif, and jpg images, which it will resize to fit (sometimes not well). For pen engraving, I use MS Paint, insert the text I want in a 500x500 pixel canvas, then crop to size and save as a jpg before dragging into the engraving software. Here's a Youtube video on how easy it is to set up and use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnpkwHArYSY (don't be fooled by the shots that are sped up - this does not engrave as fast as shown!)

But I thought I'd share how nicely this works on the pens I turn.

Here is a chrome "Curvado" from PSI in Olivewood (domestic), to be a gift for a retiring coworker. Thanks for looking!

[atgcpaul]

Bill, the pen looks great. I could see taking that little engraver to a craft show and engraving onsite while the customer waits.

I found this other video which really does show how easy the software is https://youtu.be/g7lan2cFUNQ

We have an Epilog laser at work and although I haven't had a chance to learn it, doesn't seem to be as easy as this one. The preview print on this one is genius, too.

What's that clicking noise during the print? Is it the laser firing or the belt drive? Is the laser strong enough to cut through veneer?

[poolhound]

Bill, very timely as I was talking about this only 2 days ago. I would love to chat with you about your experience and whether to just jump on one of these units. That website says $80 right now, is that what you paid?

[BadeMillsap]

VERY VERY COOL! I wish I thought I could use something small like that ... the price seems reasonable...

[leehljp]

Bill, how well will this laser printer do on slimlines or something smaller that the pen you posted? I am concerned about the proportion of the burn on small pens as it gets closer to the edge. Is there a laser engraver that takes into consideration the curvature?

Does it burn through a CA finish OK? What about resin blanks?

I am interested in this. But I have to get my DC going for the CA fumes first. It is on my to do list by the end of August!

[poolhound]

Bill, how well will this laser printer do on slimlines or something smaller that the pen you posted? I am concerned about the proportion of the burn on small pens as it gets closer to the edge. Is there a laser engraver that takes into consideration the curvature?

Does it burn through a CA finish OK? What about resin blanks?

I am interested in this. But I have to get my DC going for the CA fumes first. It is on my to do list by the end of August!

Lots of good questions Hank. I am very interested in one of these and have similar queries. The video that Paul posted actually has a guy engraving on to a slimline. As you basically can create an image up to 512x512 you can make the text as small as you like. As far as curvature is concerned I doubt the SW will take care of this but as will take any graphiuc style I am 99% sure you could distort it in photoshop or similar such that it would work fine when engraved around a curve, It would take some experimentation but I bet it would work. I have also been wondering about registration such that you can ensure to get whatever you are printing square to edges etc. I guess we could figure out some form of jig to hold pens in a fixed position. I also wonder how big that cage is and how big and item can you get in there.

[JoeyGee]

That is pretty cool. Have you tried it on acrylic?

[atgcpaul]

My interest in the engraver has waned quickly. Along with the positive reviews, I'm seeing a fair number of people reporting that the laser died within a few prints. I think I did see a YouTube engraving on acrylic. Our Epilog uses a 25W or 40W laser and can cut through at least 1/8" acrylic and wood. I'm pretty sure this 1W laser isn't going to cut through that.

[Bill in Buena Park]

All,
I do not believe this laser is strong enough to engrave acrylic well. Also, I've heard elsewhere that engraving plastics could create poisonous fumes that need special venting, so for both reasons, I have not tried this. As far as longevity/durability of the unit - this is yet to be seen. The folks on IAP that bought them have, to my knowledge, not reported any that died, but its only been 2 months or so. On the IAP site, there are discussions about low-end 40W lasers that are more versatile, but also not quite as "plug and play" as this little unit. Here is one such device, price just over $300: http://www.ebay.com/itm/260825065645...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Hank, some parameters around the names I have been engraving: I am using a size 40 font, type "Constantia", in MS Paint. I you can change font and size as you wish and get it to work on slimlines. On my first try, I used 12 font, and it was almost microscopic. Curvature is not really accounted for, but in my experience, unless your text goes extremely close to the edges, it should work fine. Regarding burning through finish, I have not tried. Some report that it works ok, but in practice, I'm not sure I want to do that. Because this is a diode laser, smoke extraction is recommended, and I just put a DC hose next to it, but even so, I find that I get a slight amount of smoky "film" on the surface near the engraved letters that can be lightly sanded off using 600 grit. I have heard others use a solvent to wipe this residue off, but I haven't tried that.

Jon - great chatting with you today about this. If you give it a try, let us know how it works out for you.

I will post a couple more pictures tonight about some tests I did for a possible "bowl medallion" application - i.e., printing in a circle (using WordArt in Word) with a symbol embedded.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Here's the picture of a concept piece I was thinking of for bowls, which I made through WordArt in MS Word. I resized it to be he maximum 500x500 pixels, and when engraved, measures about 1-3/8 inches across. So the maximum area that could be engraved in one engraving session is 1-3/8 x 1-3/8 square. I'm thinking something like this could be engraved on a 1.5 inch veneer disk and glued into a recess on the bottom of a bowl turning

[poolhound]

Thanks for the input Bill. BTW there was no picture with your last post.

I was all ready to just pull the trigger on one of these yesterday and then I got to thinking about other items I want top engrave or carve and the sizes seems a little limiting if I end up needing a bigger unit. I see the same company sells a bigger unit that has a static base with the laser moving in both X and Y axis. The engraving area is approx 5x7 and the bed looks to be approx 11x14. I also saw some videos where it seems that somebody set the unit up over a workpiece and therefore you could etch into even larger pieces - Hmmmm. You could get one with a 2.5W laser for $160 or 5.5W for $315. At $80 for the baby machine it was a now brainer and while $300 wont break the bank its a tad more pricey. Anybody know the pros/cons of 2.5 vs 5.5w laser?

http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_290385.html

[leehljp]

Thanks for the input Bill. BTW there was no picture with your last post.
At $80 for the baby machine it was a now brainer and while $300 wont break the bank its a tad more pricey. Anybody know the pros/cons of 2.5 vs 5.5w laser?
http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-...pp_290385.html

There has been some discussions on IAP on this. I didn't see any discussion on the 2.5 vs 5.5, but it might be in the links below

40 Watt laser at around $300 discussion: http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/...ussion-140913/
Ebay 40 watt unit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/260825065645...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

A long discussion here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/...graver-140404/

[poolhound]

There has been some discussions on IAP on this. I didn't see any discussion on the 2.5 vs 5.5, but it might be in the links below

40 Watt laser at around $300 discussion: http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/...ussion-140913/
Ebay 40 watt unit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/260825065645...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

A long discussion here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/...graver-140404/

Thanks Hank, I joined IAP yesterday and have been posting in that thread as there does seem to be a bunch of folks getting into this etching thing.

[poolhound]

Well after much back and forth I decided to take a punt on the 2.5W unit. it supposed;y has a 5x7 etchable/printable area and because it uses an X-Y gantry I have seem lots of online examples of folks setting it up over much larger objects. So for example it would allow for etching a logo into cutting boards. Now I have to wait and then have fun building it.

http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_290386.html

[Bill in Buena Park]

Awesome Jon - please advise on how your build goes, how user-friendly the setup and use is, etc. I like the little NEJE for the pen stuff, but would be interested in the larger format for other things as well.